1979: FAMOUS MONSTERS UNDERWEAR

Another clothing-related Halloween scare for you: FAMOUS MONSTERS UNDERPANTS... and a hairy naked man!

Unfortunately, the all black & white magazine interior means we'll never know quite how colourful these fiendish undergarments really were but - I'm sure - anyone who wore them must have felt very special in gym class.

This advert appeared in an issue of FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine (always a cornucopia of mail-away treats) in the late seventies.  I've only spotted it in one issue thus far so the smalls were either a stunning success or someone belatedly realised that FM's target audience (early teen geeks) weren't particularly chuffed to see a naked man in their magazine.  Although - I bet - a few secretly were.  But, don't tell Mom!

1984: GHOSTBUSTERS JUMPSUIT ADVERT (Starlog)

Here's something that WILL scare you!  The price of the GHOSTBUSTERS JUMPSUIT in this December 1984 STARLOG MAGAZINE advert: $85!

I'm not an expert in jumpsuits, or the US cost of living in 1984, but this does sound pretty extortionate to me.  I love the way that they've given the (ugly) guy a non-GB ray gun... just to give him something to do so that it doesn't look like he's pissing up the wall.  

1982: WEREWOLF: A MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL (Marvel UK)

Here's another M-UK scare from the early eighties: The WEREWOLF SUPER SPECIAL one-shot (not to be confused with the US Marvel Super Special colour magazine, which I've covered in previous posts).

This followed in the mysterious paw prints of Landis' 1981 flick AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and Marvel were obviously hoping enough residual interest in all-things-hairy would make it a success.

The black & white WEREWOLF BY NIGHT reprints were Island of the Damned (from Marvel Spotlight 4) and Eye of the Beholder (from Werewolf By Night 1), backed up by a vintage short scare (Two Frightened People).

1982: DRACULA SUMMER SPECIAL (Marvel UK)

It's Halloween!  So all my posts today have a supernatural persuasion.

First up is Marvel UK's 1982 DRACULA SUMMER SPECIAL.  It was US reprints wrapped in this rather striking new cover, recycled as the centre-spread glossy poster.  

1980: STAR WARS ON THE MUPPET SHOW

And, of course, Disney also already owns THE MUPPETS, another great opportunity for synergy across the expanding Disney Empire.  Somehow.

Here's when  THE MUPPET SHOW collided with the STAR WARS universe in 1980.

The episode was shot at ATV's Elstree Studios (now BBC Elstree, home of EastEnders), just a short distance away from the Elstree Film Studios base of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, which was shooting on its stages at the time.

Frank Oz, of course, is another connection between the two worlds.  Enjoy!

1978: SPIDEY SPOOFS STAR WARS (Marvel)

STAR WARS SOLD!

With tonight's (London time) announcement that Disney are buying Lucasfilm and the STAR WARS franchise, how long will it be before the comics license shifts from Dark Horse Comics (who have held it since DARK EMPIRE - ironically originally announced as a Marvel/ Epic project - in 1991) back to Marvel (now, of course, another Disney subsidiary and publisher of SW comics, on both sides of the Atlantic from 1977-86)?

To mark the moment here's a quick-off-the-mark Spidey Star Wars spoof cover from SPIDEY SUPER STORIES issue 31, cover-dated February 1978.

SSS was as easy-reading comic for younger kids, connected to THE ELECTRIC COMPANY educational TV show (which featured regular Spider-man live-action comedy segments).  Some - but not this one - of the strips were reused in the UK during the dying days of the original Spider-man weekly, in a misjudged attempt to reboot it as a comic for younger readers.  

1992: MARVEL UK in MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE

Here's an article from MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE 113 (cover-dated June 1992) ushering the beginnings of the Marvel UK sub-universe AKA GENESIS 1992.

It's an interview with Marvel UK head honcho Pual Neary outlining his early plans for the line.  Before the short-lived speculator boom sent the Annex of Ideas crazy, cranking out numerous ongoing and limited series (most somehow connected with Death's Head II) until the British line was the first to be sacrificed when the over-extended market went into free fall.

Long-time purveyors of British newsagents will recognise these titles as also forming the basis of the British fortnightly OVERKILL, Marvel UK's first attempt to really challenge the dominance of Tharg.  Overkill also - before too long - succumbed to the dubious charms of Death's Head II and - rather too swiftly - collapsed with the rest of the sub-universe.  In the piece, Neary states that there's no direct link between DH II and the G92 line.  Unfortunately, that didn't last.

Despite Overkill running the same strips simultaneously (albeit axing the pages - at least at first - that featured US characters), the individual G92 titles were available from British comic stores.  early issues were polybagged with a sticker plugging Overkill although this practice was soon dropped.

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 15 (IPC)

Fifteen. And out.  Regular SCREAM! readers would have had no idea that this issue would be the last. There's no "Great News Inside!" type cover flash.  No positive-spin message from Ghastly inside.  No hasty attempt to wrap-up the strips that didn't make the merger.  It looked like business-as-usual.

Except... issue 16 never appeared.

IPC, the vast British publishing house (of which comics were a small - and diminishing - division) was about to succumb to one of its periodic industrial disputes... and SCREAM was one of a number of comics and magazines that - without warning - vanished from sale.

When the strike finished, Scream didn't return with the other titles.  Conspiracy theories abound: some suspect that IPC, after the ACTION debacle of the previous decade, suddenly became nervous about the possible consequences of a horror comic (although IPC's own MISTY and Marvel's DRACULA LIVES seemed to have avoided the watchful eye of the moral majority ).  Others say that the publisher had come under pressure to discontinue the title.  Some say that the weekly had been sacrificed by management in the fallout from the strike for internal political reasons.  Others - and this is frankly more likely - just think that the sales of the early issues (in an industry already well into decline) just didn't justify continuing.

The real reason - despite a gap of nearly thirty years - is still frustratingly unclear.

But, during the summer of 1984, Scream reigned supreme.

Taking everyone by surprise, the long-delayed return of Ghastly never happened and - instead - a low-key merger with EAGLE took place later in the year.  Presumably, no-one in management thought the addition of such a short-lived title was worth making much of a song-and-dance about compared with some of the other longer-established weeklies that merged with Eagle, notably TIGER the following year.

IPC, typically, kept the Scream name alive in a series of holiday specials over the next few years.

Reprints of The Thirteenth Floor were subsequently collected in an issue of THE BEST OF EAGLE.  

1990: TOUR OF DUTY TV GUIDE ADVERT

I found this while meandering around the web over the weekend: the TV GUIDE magazine advert promoting the two-hour series finale of New World Television's really rather excellent TOUR OF DUTY.

Despite what the copy suggests, this actually closed-out the series and not just the season.  I was always under the impression that, by the time CBS aired this, they'd already decided to cancel the show but the wording suggests that the final decision still hadn't been made and renewal was still possible.

It was only a two-hour "special presentation" because CBS glued together the last two one-hour episodes (The Raid and Payback) and played them as a tele-movie.  They certainly weren't scripted or shot as a two-hour piece.

It's also interesting that CBS Marketing opted not to include any of the show's regular cast.  Lee Majors and Carl Weathers had been recurring guest stars in several third season shows.  Pictured is Kyle Chandler who appeared in the last two episodes as a soldier who's blinded in combat (The Raid) and shipped back home (Payback) to cope with his injuries.  Given the prominence of his storyline, it's safe to say that the producers were toying with making his character a regular had the shown been renewed.

The final episode marked a significant reboot in the format, again suggesting a very different Year Four had it happened.  Several of the regular characters ended their tours and shipped back to the United States to start a civilian life.  Had the show continued, story lines would have - presumably - been split between their attempts at readjusting to civilian life in a hostile world and the remainder of Bravo Company still serving in Vietnam.  

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

1978: FORBIDDEN PLANET ADVERT

Here's a mighty-fine piece of Brian Bolland art promoting the opening of the new London comic book store FORBIDDEN PLANET.  I wonder what ever became of that little enterprise?

This half-page ad appeared in Marvel UK's STAR WARS WEEKLY in August 1978.

MARVEL COMICS INDEX ISSUE 4: THE FANTASTIC FOUR

Issue four of the MARVEL COMICS INDEX covered - appropriately enough - Marvel's First Family: The Fantastic Four, behind a beautiful Jim Steranko cover.

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 14 (IPC)

It's Halloween week... and our Advent Calendar of Chills continues with SCREAM! issue 14, the penultimate issue of the weekly.

1993: MARVEL HERO CAPS in MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE (Marvel)

Following on from my post earlier this week about Marvel's BIG GUNS (featuring Death's Head II) HERO CAPS, here's a one-page article from MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE 129 (October 1993) which gives a bit more background to the short-lived "craze". 

Spot the difference! The Kingpin is wearing a different coloured suit in the artwork in the article compared with the final release.

1993: MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE CELEBRATES 10 YEARS (Marvel)

 It's STARLOGGED's 400th post!  Hurrah!  So - because we do history - here's another retrospective: a celebration of ten years of Marvel's US in-house fanzine MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE, first published in issue 120, January 1993.

If you want to know the uncensored history of the company, seek out the new hardback MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe.  It's gripping stuff although Marvel UK barely rates a mention (I've found one reference thus far).

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 13 (IPC)

It's the 13th issue of SCREAM! so it's appropriate that The Thirteenth Floor should be the cover star.

It's a pity they didn't go for the obvious cover splash: The terror of crabs down below!

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 12 (IPC)

Another stunning wraparound cover from SCREAM! issue 12.

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 11 (IPC)

The chills continue!  Here's the front and back covers for SCREAM! issue 11.

An ongoing Scream Theme was "what did Editor Ghastly McNasty look like under his hood?"  IPC obviously thought this piece of reader art, by Lee Williams, worthy of a full-colour back cover.

Or... was IPC just being cheap?  Getting a page of full colour art for a mere fiver?  Shame on them!

And... whatever happened to Lee?  Are you out there?

1978: THE MICRONAUTS in STAR WARS WEEKLY TEASER CAMPAIGN (Marvel UK)

Here's a series of Marvel UK teaser ads from late 1978/ early 1979 ushering the arrival of THE MICRONAUTS in STAR WARS WEEKLY.

STAR WARS WEEKLY

ISSUE 45

13 December 1978

STAR WARS WEEKLY

ISSUE 47

27 DECEMBER 1978

MARVEL UK HOUSE AD

January 1979

STAR WARS WEEKLY

ISSUE 50

17 January 1979

1993: BIG GUNS HERO CAPS featuring DEATH'S HEAD II (Marvel)

Here's a long-forgotten (with justification) piece of Marvel UK related merchandise: Marvel's woeful attempt to get kids addicted to a new collectable game: HERO CAPS.

These are better known as POGS (presumably Marvel's lawyers wanted their own Trade Marked brand name) and numerous manufacturers (so I'm not just waggling my finger in a disapproving fashion at Marvel) thought they might become as collectable as baseball cards (and - ahem - comics) in the speculator-fueled dash-for-cash of the early 1990s.

As you'll see below, this set (basically a single sheet of shrink-wrapped thick card) was one of several cranked-out by Marvel (although, with the exception of the MIDNIGHT SONS supernatural characters set, I have no idea if the other sets were actually ever released).

BIG GUNS was a blatant Marvel promotional push featuring - unsurprisingly - some of their more violent characters including - hurrah - DEATH'S HEAD II from across the pond.  The Punisher was - as you can tell - the line's anchor character.

The inclusion of the British anti-hero certainly paid dividends as sales on the early issues were - apparently - excellent.  Which explains M-UK's unrestrained expansion into the US market and the copious cross-promoting crossovers which slapped DH II into every other conceivable British title.  

I picked this still-wrapped item up for - ahem - 10p recently.  Who says this isn't the Mighty Marvel age of bargains?!?

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 10 (IPC)

It's The Dracula File on the cover of SCREAM! issue 10.

1990: BUCK ROGERS in STARLOG SCIENCE FICTION VIDEO MAGAZINE (Starlog)

STARLOG SCIENCE FICTION VIDEO MAGAZINE issue 2 (see yesterday) also featured Glen Larson's other late-seventies SF extravaganza: BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY.

Just to reiterate: as the magazine's title suggests, it contained reviews of SF film and TV available on home video in the US circa 1990.  Therefore, it only covers the episodes available on tape (all of which come from the show's superior first season).

MARVEL COMICS INDEX ISSUE 3: THE AVENGERS

THE AVENGERS are under the spotlight in the third issue of the unofficial MARVEL COMICS INDEX.

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 9 (IPC)

A fantastic ensemble of freaks from the wraparound cover of SCREAM! issue 9!

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 8 (IPC)

Another fantastic SCREAM! cover!  With art this good, it really is surprising that it didn't fare better on newsagents shelves.

1990: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA in STARLOG SCIENCE FICTION VIDEO MAGAZINE (Starlog)

Here's the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA section, written by Mark A. Altman, from the second STARLOG SCIENCE FICTION VIDEO MAGAZINE, published in 1990.

The magazine was the familiar A-Z review format, mostly centred on feature films but with sections devoted to various TV shows.  Volume 2, as the cover (below) suggests, also covered STAR TREK (classic flavour) and BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY.

This isn't a complete guide to the show, just the episodes that were available on VHS stateside in 1990. Unlike the UK, which (almost always) put two 45-50 minute episodes onto a single tape (to give it an overall running time roughly akin to a feature film) it seems that US distributors put just one episode (unless edited into a movie format) on each tape.  Rip-off.

MARVEL COMICS INDEX ISSUE 2: CONAN THE BARBARIAN

Here's the cover of the second issue of the MARVEL COMICS INDEX, devoted to (no kidding) CONAN THE BARBARIAN and Marvel's spin-off series.

1984: SCREAM! ISSUE 7 (IPC)

The Thirteenth Floor gets an impressive wrap-around cover for SCREAM! issue 7.

This was one of only two strips to survive the merger into EAGLE.  The strip's star, Max the computer,  eventually found himself promoted to "editor" following the Eagle's merger with TIGER.